On 3/8, the Coronado Cougars Gone Wired robotics team traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah to compete in the FIRST Utah Regional Competition. The team left early Wednesday morning to make the 9 hour drive with all of their tools and their robot. The competition was hosted in the Maverik Center, the ice rink where the Olympic hockey and ice skating took place during the 2002 Winter olympics. When the team arrived, they immediately set up their workspace and began preparing for practice matches the next day.

The next morning, the team unpacked their competition robot and made modifications based on those done to their practice bot. The team finished the practice day feeling confident about the Qualification matches. Friday was the first day of qualification matches, which included 10 qualifying matches for each of the 48 teams the results of which determined their final ranking.

Coronado performed well, spending much of the first day ranked number 1. The team experienced difficulty after part of the gear placing mechanism stopped performing and they were forced to make modification. By the end of the first day, the team was ranked 23rd. The 2017 Drive team, Grace Schwarzenberger, 10, Ryan Kite, 12, Bennet Spengler,10, Andrew Wills, 10, and Mathew Humphrey, 12, performed very well, working on effective communication and perfecting their driving so that they will be better prepared for the Colorado Regional.

Going into the second day, the team came out in full force showing true Coronado pride. The team performed well in their final 3 qualifying matches and then it was time for the alliance pick. In this stage the top 8 seeded teams pick 2 other teams who they would like to have join their team to compete for regional champion. Cougars Gone Wired were picked by the 7th seeded team, team 3288, the Punchers. The alliance lost their first match and then won their second one, leaving the qualifier in a tie. The tie breaker match ended with a win for the opposing alliance, knocking the cougars out of the running.

Despite the loss, the team did not leave empty handed, the judges awarded the team the Engineering Creativity Award. This award is presented to the team that demonstrates a creative design in their robot or unique way to address the tasks. The cougars bot implemented a unique drive train that allowed for multiple playing configurations, which impressed the judges and added to their overall impression of team 2996.
The competition gave the team many ideas on how they can improve their bot before the next regional. Over the next week, the team will meet to make modifications and practice their strategies before heading up to compete at the Colorado regional hosted in Denver.
Wish the team luck as they continue their competition season!